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Nicomekl Bridge – White Rock, BC

The Nicomekl Bridge was built in 1939 to allow vehicle traffic easier access to the White Rock and South Surrey areas. The bridge is also a common connector from the South Surrey area to Highway 99 and King George Highways, and as such has a vehicle crossing it an average of 1- every minute over a 24 hour period.

The bridge utilized creosote coated pilings which were driven into the marshy soil which supported a wooden beam bridge. The bridge originally supported a wooden deck, but as time went by, the bridge had a standard concrete deck applied to it. The problem with that was there was continual movement in the bridge due to the soft soils; the deck soon cracked and was repeatedly patched over a 60 year period. Mainroad Contracting was the bridge contractor that was charged with overseeing maintenance.

Throughout the various patches of every type of repair material, the only product that did not denigrate despite heavy vehicle traffic was Target’s Traffic Patch Coarse. As the owner of the bridge, BC MOT was well aware of Target Traffic Patch as it is the most commonly used patching material for bridges throughout British Columbia, but it had never been used as a complete deck overlay material due to its rapid set times. Keith Kazakoff of BC Ministry of Transport conferred with Jack Torok of Target Products as to the possibility of utilizing Traffic Patch for an entire deck.

Through discussions as to how to best approach completing such a job, the challenges were overcome and it was soon realized that Traffic Patch could be used for the entire deck. The Nicomekl Bridge has had the new deck in use since January 2013. BC MOT has attended many site visits and can attest to the fact that the Traffic Patch is holding up exceptionally well.